Lewis Hamilton used a late flyer to capture pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. (Photo: Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton earned his fourth pole position of the Formula One season Saturday as Mercedes was again in a class of its own at the Spanish Grand Prix, while four-time champion Sebastian Vettel was left stranded by his faulty Red Bull.

Hamilton clocked a leading lap of 1 minute, 25.232 seconds on the sunny and dry Barcelona-Catalunya circuit for his 35th career pole.

Sebastian Saavedra won the first pole of his career Friday when Ryan Hunter-Reay was penalized for bringing out a session-ending red flag during qualifying at the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

“We definitely gave that one away,” Hunter-Reay said.

Hunter-Reay had just moved to the top of the Fast Six leaderboard when he spun exiting the final turn of his next lap. It looked as if the 2012 IndyCar champion may have hit a patch of water exiting Turn 14 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where showers changed track conditions for each of the four qualifying sessions.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo made an appearance in the Barcelona paddock Friday, in essence to underline his support for new team boss Marco Mattiacci.

De Montezemolo stressed that Mattiacci will need time to settle in, and until he does, Luca himself will remain closer to the F1 team than usual. He also stressed how disappointed he is with the current performance.

Dani Pedrosa should be clear to race next weekend at Le Mans after undergoing surgery for arm pump. (Photo: Getty Images)

Dr. Xavier Mir believes Dani Pedrosa will be able to take part in next weekend’s Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, with the Repsol Honda Team rider having undergone surgery for arm pump on Tuesday afternoon.

Having been in pain en route to third place during last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, Pedrosa underwent an operation at Barcelona’s Quiron Dexeus University Hospital.